


Protective Partner

by inklizard (skinklegs)



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24935899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skinklegs/pseuds/inklizard
Summary: Ox Ford, long-time rival of Maka's, finally crosses a line.
Relationships: Maka Albarn & Soul Eater Evans
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	Protective Partner

**Author's Note:**

> Directly inspired by all those fics where Soul wrecks someone's shop in defense of Maka, I thought it'd be fun to write something where the opposite happens. Short, sweet, and to the point to get it out of my system. SoMa implied but not explicit so gen tag it is.

Among her peers at the DWMA, Maka Albarn was famous for a few reasons: First and foremost, her nearly single-handed defeat of the kishin Asura; second, her untouchable good grades; and third, her temper. It was the first two things that earned her the respect of her fellow students. Meanwhile, the latter made sure those that did not find her so favorable had the good sense to keep their mouths shut—that is, except for one.

Enter Ox Ford.

If pressed, with a vocabulary as expansive as hers, Maka could have thought of several choice words to paint a colorful picture of Ox. But in the interest of being concise, perhaps the most apt word to describe him would be "shitlord."

Academically speaking, Ox was the only student that could hold a candle to Maka, and it made him a real thorn in her side. It did bring her some small comfort, though, to think that in a fight, she and Soul could have beaten his smug face into a bloody red pulp.

Enter Soul "Eater" Evans, Maka's beloved partner and known dumbass. The rivalry between Maka and Ox was lost on him. Soul coasted by on a reliable C average, and he was content to do so; as long as he was passing, he couldn’t be bothered to care if someone else was better than him. Maka was not like that. She wanted to be the top of her class. As far as Soul was concerned, her grades had nothing to do with that. She had more than proven herself during the battle with Asura. After that, anyone who had any illusions of surpassing her must have been delusional. When it was time for a test, though, Maka would still fret over the difference of a percentile. It baffled him.

Most of the time, Maka was good at keeping herself in check. Ox would give her a smug smile from across the room, and Soul would see the nerve in Maka’s neck twitch as she gripped her pencil a little tighter. Sometimes they would exchange snide remarks to one another in the hallway. It never went beyond that, though.

Except for once.

For Soul, it was Tuesday. For Maka, it was test day, which meant another opportunity to assert her dominance over one Ox Ford. Soul got a 66%, while, to the surprise of no one, Maka scored top of the class. This was not the interesting part; it was what happened later, after class was dismissed.

Maka strolled down the hall with her chin held high. She did this every time, as if her extra point—or fraction thereof—were some great victory. Soul humored her. While he didn’t entirely understand what the big deal was, whatever made Maka happy made him happy, too.

Then, suddenly, something about her demeanor changed. Something across the hall caught her eye, and, following her gaze, Soul spotted Ox and his partner, Harvar, talking amongst themselves. Maka gave them a long, spiteful look before turning her nose up. Soul chuckled under his breath.

It looked as if they would pass by without incident. Maka seemed content to ignore him for the time being. That was, until she caught part of his conversation with Harvar on her way by.

“...Albarn and her idiot partner.”

Maka stopped so suddenly that Soul walked straight into her. She hardly seemed to notice. Soul screwed up his face in confusion.

“Hey, Maka, what gives?” he asked, but did not receive an answer.

Looking over his partner, he saw Maka’s cheeks turn bright red. The textbook she was holding was about to disintegrate under her grip. Uh oh, thought Soul.

“That is _it!_ ” shouted Maka. She shoved her book into Soul’s chest, and he fumbled to catch it as he watched Maka storm away from him.

Ox saw her approach. Harvar had no idea she was there until she grabbed him by the shoulder and crumpled him against the wall, holding him there so that she could take his place in front of Ox.

“You—!” she began, pointing a finger at his chest.

Ox frowned at her. “What do you—”

“Shut up when I’m talking!” growled Maka. “I will paint the walls with you.”

“What did I—”

Maka pushed Harvar tighter against the wall, causing him to whimper and hold his arms up in front of him like one of the Jurassic Park raptors. On all sides of her, students were beginning to gather.

“If I ever hear you talk about my partner again, your own mother won’t recognize your corpse.”

Ox paled. Across the hall, Soul raised his eyebrows in interest.

“I didn’t say anything about—”

“I _heard_ you!” Shoving poor Harvar backward along the wall, Maka put herself in between him and Ox, who took a step away from her as Harvar tumbled to the floor. “You can say all the nasty things you want about me,” she said, “but I will _not_ let you drag Soul into it!”

“Or what?” asked Ox in the first full sentence he was able to squeeze in since Maka began her tirade.

“Or you can meet me outside, that’s what,” snapped Maka. “No weapons—I’ll put my boot so far up your—”

Her words were cut off by a squeal of alarm as a pair of arms closed around her waist and hoisted her, flailing, up off the floor.

“Chill out,” came Soul’s voice behind her. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

“Let me go!” she demanded, squirming in his grasp.

“No.”

The triumphant look on Ox’s face made Maka struggle even harder. Soul kept an arm hooked tightly around her waist as he dragged her sideways and away, back into the middle of the hall. All the while, her eyes did not leave Ox, who, in turn, stared back at her as she disappeared beyond the crowd of students around them. Only when he was out of sight did Maka begin to simmer down.

She groaned loudly in frustration.

“Who does he think he is?” she muttered. “If he ever even breathes near you again—”

“He better not,” Soul said easily. “He owes me now. I just saved his fuckin’ life.”

“I’ll go back there.”

“No, you won’t. It’s not worth it.”

Maka seethed quietly under his arm. With his free hand, he waggled her book in front of her, trying to placate her with the one thing that always made her happy. She eyed it for a moment, then grabbed it from him and held it to her chest.

She should have taken it with her, she thought. She could’ve fractured Ox’s skull with it.

“I’m sorry he said that.”

Soul turned to her in surprise.

“What? Called me an idiot? What do I care?”

“I care,” said Maka.

“It’s not a big deal. I’m not worried about what some smartass thinks of me.” With his arm still around Maka’s waist, he pulled her a little tighter into his side and added, “Except if it’s you.”

At first, this made her smile. But then she blinked once, twice, and looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

“Did you just call me a smartass?”

“Yeah.”

“I just stood up for you!”

“Try not being a smartass.”

“Soul!”

He laughed, and, slowly, the look of annoyance on Maka’s face melted away into an affectionate smile. Dumbass though he may be, he was her dumbass, and there was nothing she wouldn’t do for him.

“Okay, okay,” he said. “Can I try again?”

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks, Maka.”

“That’s better.”


End file.
